Page 4 - MidWeek Kauai - March 24, 2021

4 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK MARCH 24, 2021
From life in a tent to joy in
Tinseltown, American Idol hopefuls Ammon and Liahona Olayan are proving that success can happen in an instant with a great song.
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But once, their dust-up got so personal
The siblings, who once called Wahiawā, O‘ahu, and Pāhoa, Hawai‘i Island, home, entered Hollywood Week on March 21, in Tinseltown. There, they were hoping to fight on in their pursuit of becoming the next American Idol.
ike most siblings, Ammon and Li- ahona Olayan are capable of butt- ing heads every now and then.
Bryan uttered the words about the duo that many viewers likely agreed with: “I think the sky’s the limit, and I’m just freaking out!”
And boom, just like that, the Olayans soared into the show’s next round with their winning tickets in hand.
and nasty that the two stopped talking to each other for a period of time.
“We weren’t scrapping or noth- ing like that, but we said some pretty mean words to each other and went
our separate ways,” recalls Ammon. “We were holding grudges,” remem-
bers Liahona.
Unlike most brothers and sisters,
however, the Olayans are also capa- ble of turning raw emotions into catchy melodies and hurt feel- ings into thoughtful lyrics. In fact, they’re so good at making music together that they’ve turned their beef into an apparent hit single with Boom, an original composition that the pair performed on American
Former Hawai‘i residents Ammon and Liahona Olayan were hoping to survive Hollywood Week, which began March 21. PHOTO COURTESY AMERICAN IDOL
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Regardless of what happens in the compe- tition, the Olayans are grateful to be able to showcase their musical talent to the world.
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es Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.
“I think it’s way more than anything I could have imagined — from releasing our own song to being able to sing on American Idol,” says Ammon, 18, who along with Li- ahona, 17, previously released an EP titled Life is Good and were featured on a youth album for The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- ter-day Saints. “We’ve received so much love and support, so many good comments and so many awesome fans that say that they’re rooting for us and hope we get big.”
Liahona and Ammon Olayan’s song was originally called Listen to My Heart, but was changed because “everyone was calling it Boom,” explains Liahona. “They were like, ‘That chorus stay stuck in my head!’” PHOTO COURTESY AMERICAN IDOL
Suffice to say, the judg- es were blown away by the Olayans’ presenta- tion during the televised audition that aired last month — with all three praising the teenagers for their “fresh” sound and considerable songwriting
abilities.
In particular, Perry
Even their social media accounts have been blowing up in recent weeks. Liahona’s Insta- gram page had 800 followers prior to the duo’s appearance on American Idol, but it’s since ballooned to well over 14,500 followers.
called the siblings “tal- ented beyond belief” and noted they “should be signed right now,” while